By Herdian Mohammad

Another day another dollar; Or should I say, another day more Indonesian Rupiah out of my pockets.  Life just does not get any easier as you grow older but the great thing about growing up is you learn from your mistakes and grow as a person, that is if you want to learn and develop and make something of yourself.

Living the life and being able to do the things I’ve always wanted to do is something that everyone has the opportunity to achieve.  Some people ask me why do I do all the things that I do; and my simple answer is : Because I can.

If you break down the days of our lives, and really micro perceive the time ticking time line, you realize that life is really short.  5 years could just pass by just like that if you let it and then 10 then 20, 30 years and so on.. Then you face the day in which everyone says, its your mid-life crisis, from there you are set to either go up and your go down. They say, that time comes around at the age of 40.

Usually the “clichés” of life are ; “Go to school, graduate, get a job, get married, have kids, make money, and teach your kids to do the same thing”… We tend to go through the motions as we’ll need to focus more on the substance of life through developments.

What is the substance of development in life.  First of all, what do you value as a person? Are you clear what you want in life, or do you keep on changing what you want in life?  Find your values and the substance of your life.

1. When you love someone, you’re not loving yourself. You’re loving someone else.
2. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years of unknown darkness? If you don’t see anything that means you haven’t turned on the light.
3. Just because I ride ojeks, it doesn’t mean i’m less of a person than you are. It just means that I like to ride ojeks. 
4. Don’t hate me because I’m not as good as you and will never be you. I’m better. 
5. I never fade into the darkness like a washed out has been because I glow in the dark. 
6. I never wanted to be a star. But don’t hate me when i’m just sitting here doing nothing and I shine at night like the stars in the sky. 
7. When you think you got it all, think again because your all ain’t their all. And their all is be-ol.
8. To win some is to lose a lot over and over again until you have nothing to lose. 
9. Life is like a circus, you always know who the clown is if you really think about it. 
10. Don’t fall for someone who will fall on u when they’re leaning against a brick wall. 
11. Don’t laugh at urself before u laugh by urself. If u often laugh by urself than u can laugh at urself. If u often laugh by urself u’re crazy 
12. When a man says to you, “Bo, take a chill pill chyiinn.” It means they have been kicked in the balls 30 times during their life.
13. If you are in pain, that means you are in love. 
14. Make love to your life before it makes love to someone else.

“We discovered little by little that the people who do the coolest things are the people who don’t give a f***. We always take the measurement of whether we would regret doing something more than not doing it. The worst thing that can happen is that you’ll be embarrassed. We’ve never felt that stuff cheapened the music.”

While driving home from work, I would go through the roads with the least traffic jam.  There is actually one way I go back home from work and during a certain period of time, the roads can be so empty up until my house.  It is amazing to find such way in a very dense city such as Jakarta with the population of over 22 million in this capital city of Indonesia.   I sometimes don’t realize that one single city could have so many people residing in it.  This city is the land of opportunity, as they say; With wonders to reach and pit falls to get stuck in if stumbled upon.

One city could have so many diverse backgrounds from all Indonesians living here.  This is Jakarta, my home sweet home.  I leave you one last note in Bahasa Indonesia;  “Daripada ngeluh, mendingan cari peluang.”

Beberapa hari yang lalu setelah gue nonton NBA post-game conference Heats vs Sixers,  gue jadi inget kata-kata dari beberapa pelatih gw dulu mulai dari SMP sampai sebelum gue pensiun tahun 2008 di IBL.  Dari sekian banyak pelatih hebat yg pernah pegang gue sebagai pemain, gue ringkas kata-kata mereka di Twitter kemarin dengan pake hashtag #PelatihGue .  Enjoy the read.  Mari….

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“Gue gak butuh pemain yg jago, gue butuh pemain yg dewasa!” #PelatihGue

“If you even think of quitting, just look at all those people around you who will not quit on you.” #PelatihGue

“Gak masalah loe bergaya dalam bermain asal loe bermain melaui sistem/koridor yg gue udh ajarin.. Silahkan explore
permainan loe.” #PelatihGue

“Remember that there is life after basketball. Always strive for the best that you can be.” #PelatihGue

“Wasit adalah manusia, jangan komplain kayak banci ke wasit. Itu tugas gue.” #PelatihGue

“Remember all those hours of tears, sweat and pain during practice. Now its time to party during this game.” #PelatihGue

“Jangan pernah takut atau ngeremehin lawan loe.” #PelatihGue

“Kalo loe semua gak mau main defense, loe semua gak pantes main di tim ini..” #PelatihGue

“Lo jogging, stretching, skipping(pemanasan); trs Latian bersama tim;Abis itu lo naik tangga, skipping, stretching(cooling down).” #PelatihGue

“Run the floor!” #PelatihGue

“Have the attack mindset on offense and defense.” #PelatihGue

“Run to your teammates & help them up if they fell down on the floor after a hustle, they’re hurting or made a great play.” #PelatihGue

“Look at your teammates in the eye, we cover for another.  We lose, I lose, we win, you win.” #PelatihGue

“Guys, defense will win us championships! Offense is for your picture in the papers. Rebounds will win us games. Remember that. ” #PelatihGue

“Who’s a better team, we are! I ask u again, who! We are!” #PelatihGue

“Selalu ingat, kita main untuk nama yg di depan baju loe, bukan untuk nama yg di belakang.” #PelatihGue

“Kita 1 tim! Bukan 2-3 tim. We’re one team.” #PelatihGue

“Jangan begadang, percuma loe latian seminggu jaga fisik kalo loe begadang.” #PelatihGue

“Main defense harus berisik. Jangan kayak di kuburan..” #PelatihGue

“Gue yakin loe semua mau menang! Tunjukin ke orang2 loe mau menang!” #PelatihGue

“Kita harus attack sekarang! Loe bisa istirahat di offense, jangan pernah istirahat di defense.” #PelatihGue

Kalo loe peduli & sayang sama karya-karya loe sebagai musisi, silahkan download Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 19 Tahun 2002 Tentang Hak Cipta. Tak Sayang jika Tak Kenal; Maka kenali undang-undang RI ini. Hidup Indonesia.

Download : http://tinyurl.com/4vkl6bf

Its 2011 and its time to fire it up! The new year and new blog theme consists of turning up the heat. This year HerdiOflo will be firing it up in front and behind the scenes in all aspects. Also, HollaBack Family will have many things in store. For the new start, check out “Empunya Surga” by Satu Tiga. We’ll have more videos coming soon. Have a nice day.

Last night,  during the soccer match between Indonesia vs Malaysia in the 2010 Suzuki AFF Championships, we the people of Indonesia sat in front of a live screen and those that watched directly in the GBK Senayan Stadium received a heart thumping ride for 90 minutes of an intense soccer match.  Most of us were stressed all throughout the match just watching how close so many shots and chances of Indonesia’s goal ‘should’ve’ been executed. And finally, the whistle blew, even though we won the leg 2 game of 2-1 over Malaysia, we still lost the championship and tournament trophy.

Seriously, I was truly bummed out deep inside; like a broken heart when you’re in your teen years being dumped by your first love. (Hahaha Curcol) You know that feeling. Hahaha.

But that’s beside the point.  The point I’m trying to make is, the Indonesian soccer team truly collectively hugged together a nation as one. Nothing came between the 17 thousand islands and the many cultures, languages, religion, heritage nor barriers or intangible borders we Indonesians have with one another; We were Indonesia. All problems aside for 90 minutes.  That truly was epic and unbelievable.

The reflection of this moment was not only a nationalistic pride of joy and togetherness for our country, but most importantly, it was a self-reflection of our own lives as Indonesians.  The Garuda team truly represented our struggles and tribulations of us Indonesians living in this dynamic land of Indonesia.  With daily jobs, families to feed and to make ends meet collecting money on a daily basis just to put food on the table, the team gave me a spark or more of an atomic bomb of motivation for my own life and endeavors.

Even though we lost the trophy, the Garuda team did not only give me the highest respects for the Indonesian National Soccer team but gave me a new mission and determination of accomplishments I’ll need to achieve in 2011 and beyond.  It reflected of the hustle and grind trying to live it up in Indonesia while trying to do all of the things I’ve always dreamed of accomplishing. From being a professional basketball player, rapper, an executive in the oil & gas industry, having a family of my own and finishing my Master’s degree, it truly defined that the Indonesian dream is in front of my eyes and the fight for success is just a hustle away.  We have so many accomplishments we want to achieve in the future, and from the match last night; I officially conclude that you all are my heroes for the better days of tomorrow.  God bless you all and see you at the top!!

Last but not least, I leave you all with this great inspirational song from my peoples of Zero One from the new techno group of “Hahaha” feat L.O.P produced by the Executive Killers.  Hidup Indonesia!!

DOWNLOAD SONG : http://tinyurl.com/23ac5du

Lets take a look at what you have in life in order for you to make something of yourself.

Let me ask you some things.. Lets see, are you in a state of depression currently? Are you feeling a huge burden of all your financial worries? Are you feeling you are losing control of your life? Are you in a state of near to death experience right now? Or you just perceiving your life in a negative way that leads you to your postponed success? I’m quite sure that all of your problems can be answered to your own perspective of your own situation.

There have been so many examples throughout history and man-kind of how diversity have had an impact in one’s life and just changing the perspective in one’s life can create happiness and success.

Remember, its not what you have or don’t have, its how you handle it that makes a difference.

Success and failure is how you look at it. 🙂